German Inland Waterways

The total length of the German inland waterway network is approx. 7,300 km. Within this waterway network , which is classified according to its efficiency , almost 4,800 km are of considerable importance for the international freight transport.

Main axis of the European waterway network and at the same time the world’s most frequented inland waterway is the river Rhine with it’s tributaries Neckar, Main, Mosel and Saar. The so-called Rhine stream section, the free flowing and partly regulated rivers Weser, Ems, Danube, Elbe, Spree/Oder and the 1,660 km of canals such as Dortmund-Ems, Mittelland-, Elbe-Seiten- and Main-Danube-canal build an adequate infrastructure net.

Almost all important centres of industry and commerce as well as more than 56 big German cities have access to inland waterways and thus dispose of the most ecological infrastructure for transport. They are connected to the big European seaports Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp.

The Danube, too, has always been a very import waterway for transport. Since 1992 the Danube is linked to the Rhine stream section by the Main-Danube canal.